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A Sèvres porcelain conical cup with two handles and its saucer
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A Sèvres porcelain conical cup with two handles and its saucer
Present of the emperor Napoleon on the occasion of the marriage of Prince Jerome
SOLD
Object N° 1626

On a gold ground, decorated with a white rim above which is a frieze with a pale blue ground, with polychrome decoration alternating butterflies in a diamond-shaped cartouche with a red ground and pink daisies in a round cartouche with a green ground.

Very good condition.

Sèvres imperial factory, 1806-1807.

The cup dated from the year XIV (1805-1806), the saucer dated 1807.

Marked with red stamps (the words "Manufacture impériale" erased).

H. 9,5 x D. 14,5 cm.

Provenance

- From the cabaret described as "fond d'or zone en bleu pâle frise coloriée etc.", entered the shop on January 19th, 1807 (Arch. Sèvres, Vu1, fol. 34 v°) then delivered on 4 October 1807 to the Count of Truchsess Waldburg, Envoyé extraordinaire and Ministre plénipotentiaire of the King of Württemberg, on the occasion of the marriage of Prince Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, with Princess Catherine of Württemberg, by order of Emperor Napoleon (Vbb2, fol. 74 v°). It consisted in particular of 12 so-called "à chocolat" (sic) cups and saucers at a total cost of 866 francs.

- The Count returned the cabaret in December 1807 "pour être échangé contre d'autres commandes" (Vbb2, fol. 80).

- The cabaret was finally purchased by Mrs. Laumond, wife of the prefect of Seine-et-Oise, "à Versailles" on December 31, 1808 (Vbb3, fol. 30 and Vz1, fol. 241).

- Galerie Dragesco-Cramoisan, Paris.

- Then American private collection.

History

Jean Charles Joseph Laumond (1753-1825), after having been Secretary General of the Commissariat of Flanders from 1773 to 1784, was the private secretary of the Count d'Aiguillon, a former minister of Louis XV, who called on him to write his memoirs. Then, from 1784 to 1790, he held the position of chief secretary of the Lorraine Intendancy. He was general administrator of the National Domains, and was then appointed consul in Smyrna. The Consulate appointed him Prefect of the Bas-Rhin. Napoleon gave him free rein and he began to liberate the emigrants from the Bas-Rhin, and to restore the Catholic faith. He did not understand German and had the German press translated every day.

He then became Prefect of La Roer, stationed in Aachen, a conquered country, where he was to be the police. His last post as Prefect was in Versailles (Seine-et-Oise) from 1806 to 1810. We believe that his wife offered him this cabaret on the occasion of the 1809 New Year gift. He then occupied the General Directorate of Mines until 1815 and was then promoted in 1812 to life councillor of State.

Commander of the Legion of Honour, he had received from Napoleon the title of Count of the Empire by letters patent dated 31 December 1809. His miniature portrait by Dumont is kept in the Louvre museum (inv. RF30695).